Death Registrations ~ 1864-1877; 1908-1973

Civil registration of deaths in Nova Scotia began in 1864, continued to 1877, then lapsed until 1908, when the province resumed record-keeping. Registrations for 1864-1877 are incomplete. There are two registers for the City of Halifax 1890-1908. Since 1 October 1908, the records have been maintained without interruption.

Death registrations normally include the following information, although many details will be missing from the early records:

• surname and given name
• sex
• date of death
• place of death
• date of birth
• age
• place of birth
• residence
• occupation
• marital status
• name of spouse
• name of father
• name of mother
• name of attending physician
• name of funeral director
• disposition
• place of disposition
• name of informant
• address of informant
• relationship to deceased
• date of registration
• registration number
• date of issue

1864-1877

Records are in ledger form, with many entries spread across two facing pages.

1890-1908 (City of Halifax only)

Records are in ledger form, with many entries spread across two facing pages.

1 October 1908-1973

Records from 1908 to 1919 are in ledger form, with six (6) entries on each page.

Records from 1919 to 1973 are single-page registration forms.

1974-present

Records remain with Vital Statistics, Service Nova Scotia. Please contact them for further assistance.

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